College basketball rankings: Villanova No. 1; Arizona State in the top five

We’ll start with Villanova, which rose to No. 1 after a decisive win over Gonzaga and Duke’s loss to Boston College. The Wildcats have been consistently dominant all season – no team has come within nine points of beating Jay Wright’s crew, which boasts two top-20 wins (Gonzaga and Tennessee). As we wrote last week, Duke may have been No. 1, but it was flirting with disaster all season. Disaster struck on Saturday.

RANK

SCHOOL

POINTS

RECORD

PREVIOUS

1

Villanova

1,598

10-0

4

2

Michigan State

1,561

9-1

3

3

Wichita State

1,402

8-1

6

4

Duke

1,362

11-1

1

5

Arizona State

1,316

9-0

16

6

Miami (FL)

1,272

8-0

10

7

North Carolina

1,237

9-1

11

8

Kentucky

1,227

8-1

8

9

Texas A&M

1,072

8-1

7

10

Xavier

1,044

9-1

13

11

West Virginia

972

9-1

18

12

Gonzaga

805

8-2

12

13

Kansas

760

7-2

2

14

TCU

718

10-0

20

15

Seton Hall

704

8-1

19

16

Virginia

690

8-1

15

17

Purdue

568

10-2

21

18

Notre Dame

564

8-2

9

19

Florida State

452

9-0

NR

20

Tennessee

342

7-1

24

21

Baylor

281

7-2

23

22

Florida

261

6-3

5

23

Arizona

252

7-3

NR

24

Texas Tech

191

7-1

NR

25

Cincinnati

145

7-2

17

Villanova is so great defensively, and so precise offensively, that it’s less upset-prone than the bluebloods we’ve seen fall. The Wildcats have two stars in Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, a star on the bench in Wright, and quality depth in important spots. It’s a bit surprising to see them jump No. 2 Michigan State for the top ranking, but it’s perfectly justified. The Spartans lost to an awesome, but flawed Duke team. Villanova hasn’t come close to losing. When we’re discussing the No. 1 ranking, the standard is (rightfully) high.